A small corner of the internet exploded when the news that a new Hocus Pocus was in the works. 29 years after the original, the hags would be returning to cause more mischief in Salem and just in time for Halloween too. Fans who’ve been on tenterhooks ever since, rest easy: the banshees are more brilliantly bonkers than ever in this rollicking sequel.
Becca (Whitney Peak) and Izzy (Belissa Escobedo) are two high school friends who love the occult, and traditionally spend Becca’s birthday in a glade in a spooky wood casting spells. But this year is different: when the two awkward teens light a magic candle, it works, and they accidentally bring the (now infamous) Sanderson sisters back to life. Lightning flashes, gowns twirl, Bette Midler screeches, a shadow falls upon the wood and the chaos commences.
Perhaps it’s a little off-colour to call any three witches batty or mad – after all, that’s what these women historically went down for – but in Winnie, Mary and Sarah’s case, eccentricity doesn’t cover it. The three decades of rest have given the Sanderson sisters a tonne of energy, and they burst back into modern-day Salem cackling, singing and snarling – and more cuckoo bananas than ever. Disney has really lent into their nutty fruitcake qualities, and what a joy it is to watch.
Racing against time, as with the first film, in order to stay alive (or whatever it is they are) the old witches must eat the soul of a child before the end of the night, or the spell is broken and back to oblivion they go. So off to town they fly (with Mary air-boarding on two robot vacuums) to devour some souls and enact revenge on the ancestor of the Salem mayor who caused them so much trouble back in the 17th century.
For Hocus Pocus fans, there are tonnes of references to the original: not only is Billy Butcherson (whose skin is looking ever more like a piece of ripe Stilton) awakened from his graveyard slumber, but the immortal black cat Thackery Binx is still prowling around, and their one-eyed spellbook is still a tool for trouble. Their old hangout, the haunted house, has now been turned into a magic shop, and their silhouettes still flash at the door.
Director Anne Fletcher started her career as a choreographer before going behind the camera, and her training in dance is evident throughout – as the witches sway side to side, as they cast our favourite spell (Itch-it-a-cop-it-a-Mel-a-ka-mys-ti-ca) and as hexed townspeople dance together as a troupe.
It’s pure fun and there’s enough going on to keep audiences engaged, but really, all the characters, and even the plot, are merely an excuse to watch the exquisitely deranged Sanderson sisters get up to no good for an hour and a half.
The actresses have all been busy since 1993: Sarah Jessica Parker most notably found fame in Sex and the City, Bette Midler, as well as acting, has been touring her music in Vegas, the US and Europe, while Kathy Najimy has enjoyed an extensive career in television. The massive delay between the films makes their reunification, and evident charisma on screen, all the more satisfactory to watch – and not just for fans that grew up with the original.
The first film was a flop, initially losing Disney millions of dollars, but slowly became a cult classic. No such trajectory is predicted for Hocus Pocus 2. Hitting every single teen Halloween drama checkbox (a high school, a father-daughter relationship, a fair, a zombie, a revenge plot, a core friendship, a battle of covens) and constantly buoyed by the Sanderson sisters’ hilarious wickedness, against all the odds, Hocus Pocus 2 is a funnier, cleverer update of the original.
